Saturday, November 28, 2009

Perusing my blog list this evening I found that Lloyd Kahn has posted a YouTube video of Jerry Jeff Walker singing a new song. I may need to find where I can buy the new music. However, it tapped into a dormant side of my history, and I found myself on YouTube listening to older Jerry Jeff music. So, after a few minutes I'm drinking a glass of cheap wine and wailing along with Up Against the Wall Redneck Mother. '...he's drinking in a honky-tonk, just kicking hippie's asses and raisin' hell'. And if you don't understand why I love that song, you ain't a redneck hippie who has (at least a few made it) fond memories of the 70's and 80's and Jerry Jeff and Willie and Waylon. JJW looks a bit pudgy, bald and happy in the new video.

Other blogs are about mundane things like killing a calf for meat, and feasting with friends and cute kids pictures. It occurred to me that I'm past all that. I want to drink cheap wine and sing to Jerry Jeff while playing computer geek. I'm making backups to put into my new lock box at the bank. If I lose my computers, I won't lose the information that way. I live in a cheap trailer, and have few responsibilities. I don't grow my own food, or raise animals for food (the cats wouldn't come anywhere near paying their way for that...). I'll be one of the first to go down come the revolution. Fine. It's been a good run, mostly. I'm ready to have fun.

The new JJW music is about living in Belize, and slowing down. Think Jimmie Buffett with a chaser of hard liquor. Good Stuff.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Tonight I remembered that I signed up to bring sweet potatoes to the pitch-in tomorrow at work. So, quick trip to WalMart, then a second to get 2 more cans of sweet potatoes since one didn't look like nearly enough. I got some apples, and a couple of oranges. I put the cans of sweet potatoes in 'light syrup', brown sugar, a bit of cardamon, and 1.5 cut up apples into the slow cooker. I'll decide tomorrow if I want to use some orange juice, too, but most likely I won't now. The walnuts didn't make it home with me, and I'll decide if I have time to run back to WalMart on the way to work to get some more. I'm thinking when she switched from her bags to the ones I brought in and forgot to give her at first that the bag of chopped walnuts didn't make the switch. Oh, well...

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Would that be Cat Stevens' song now that we are all no longer 20? Anyway, on to what I'm reading. And, uh, morning is barely true, as I slept in till 11am.

On SimpleLiving.net, I'm reminded of the Organized Home challenge. I am doing that anyway, which goes along with wanting to move. Kitchen is pretty much organized, if you don't count the large plastic cubes of kitchen stuff that are in the living room under tablecloths and disguised as end tables.

On another blog (by a guy...) he mentioned his hula girl beaded curtains. I'm thinking that some of those might be an answer to covering the living room windows and still letting the cats see out. On my side I'd still have the IKEA white curtains pulled back in the traditional manner, but the middle would show off the beaded curtains. From the outside, I guess they'd see the beaded ones mostly. Pondering...

In the IKEA catalog is my new dining room table. It is a Norden gateleg table. Pictures here: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20104718AS

I just accidentally deleted a few paragraphs about other blogs. The auto save was too fast and saved after I deleted it...

One was about a blog where a woman who home sews is making slippers for her family. Interesting family in that it is nice to see the workings of a home-schools, attempting to be self-sufficient as possible largish family (4 kids): http://omelay.wordpress.com/

Another was a blog that I follow about a guy who has a really nice motor home who camp hosts a lot around the western part of the US. His past two entries about about driving over the Hoover Dam, with information about the new Dam by-pass highway being built so that all the NAFTA traffic doesn't drive over the Dam itself with it's security concerns, and an brief intro on Kartchner Caverns State Park in AZ. He is a former news photojournalist from Portland, OR, so his posts are always more professional than most folks I follow: http://www.lightcurve.com/

As for what's going on around here, Dad is back in the nursing home. It takes up to an hour to feed him a meal, and Mom doesn't know how long either she or the nursing home folks can handle doing that. He himself gets frustrated with it all, and doesn't always understand what's going on or why he has to swallow twice. I slept, as I said, and so apartment hunting is on hold for today. I have been working on the afghan I started last winter, so there is progress in using up my yarn stash. Using up what I have put back for 'some other time' is my main decluttering mode right now. I'm continuing to study for my Security+ exam, and feel good about knowing about 80% of the material. That is Thing One to get done this weekend, and I have a target date of taking the test the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

I'm slacking tonight, a bit late with a post after raising an alarm last night. I apologize. Dad is ok. He doesn't have pneumonia, which is what I guess they were worried about. He aspirates when he eats. It's getting worse. He doesn't want a feeding tube. So, this is how it is now. Feed him small bites and make sure he swallows twice. He goes back to the nursing home tomorrow. I talked to him when I called Mom today as she hadn't yet called me. Cell phones make this possible, for me to call and catch Mom is his room there. He asked a vague question that didn't fit, making Mom think he didn't know who he was talking to. I had called him Daddy, as I have a lot even as an adult, so he would have a clue, and he said he knew who he was talking to. I think he is just slipping deeper into his shadowy dream world, and this world's details don't matter so much to him.

Not much else going on. Tomorrow is Friday, so I will soon have the weekend to do more to write about.

There just isn't enough happening in my life to post every day. So, do I try to get a more interesting life, or just post every few days...?

Good news: last night the cats (or one of them, not sure as I didn't see it happen) killed a mouse. It was right in front of the door, so it had to happen while I was in another part of the trailer and I didn't hear anything out of the ordinary. Great going for a couple of declawed cats.

No so good news: Mom called about 6 (8pm her time) to say that Dad was still having trouble eating and swallowing, and it was getting worse. She called back a couple of hours later to say the nursing home called her and took my Dad to emergency to have his lungs checked. Mom can't drive at night, so she won't get to the hospital till tomorrow morning. Wish I was back there. I feel badly that my Dad is alone in the emergency room. I think Mom is right about not driving the 20 or 30 miles alone at night. I just wish I was there so I could go over.

My friend at work and I share our stories of our parents' decline. I'm guessing we will both lose them before the end of the year. We neither one can get back right now, although she is going back next week until the end. I shouldn't, but I may check flights for the Thanksgiving weekend.

Monday, November 16, 2009

Not much to post. It's a work night so not a lot goes on. Mom called and said my Dad isn't doing well. He has a fever and has trouble eating. I wish I knew what the 'right' thing to do was. I have no time off left to head back unless it's an 'emergency' and I've already done the run back to say my good-bye's. A woman at work is going through the same thing with her Mom in New York who is roughly the same age, maybe even a year or so older than Dad, except her Mom has cancer and is now in the hospital on Morphine. At what point do you go back to have those last moments when they actually know who you are and know you are there. Doctors estimate for her it could be hours, could be months. With Dad it's even more open since he doesn't have any major issues, he's just shutting down. Why am I out here when I should be back there, and was there until last January. sigh.

House is cleaned up, and I'm clearing off more flat surfaces. I'll start looking around for an apartment this weekend. I don't know if I'll find a better place, but I need to look so I know what my options are. My goal is to have very little actual packing to do, having everything compartmentalized already, when I do pick up and move. Whether it's across town or across country.

Sunday, November 15, 2009

I've been reading zenhabits.net tonight. I'd bookmarked one article in it a while ago that related to the Getting Things Done organization method, but today I have been exploring the rest of the site. The Getting Things Done method is a system that I thing would really help me if only I could get organized enough to implement it. Anyway, back to the ZenHabits.net site where he has an article about NOT multitasking, and how to not do it. It involves, among other things, breaking the day down into chunks of time. I'm thinking tomorrow I'll try studying for my Security+ test for 40 min, then alternate 20 min of each hour doing what I call walkabout which is going around and checking in with my problem children, then 20 min of working on the laptops that need attention in the office. So, study 40, walkabout 20, study 40, organize and update a laptop, etc. It's a start...

I got the living room reclaimed from the backpacking gear, and the suspension on the TrekLight hammock again. The hammock I was lookingk for was there all the time, but I was thinking it was a hammock I'd gotten rid of already since they are all made from the same type material. Finally remembered I didn't have the other hammock, and viola, the one I was looking for appeared in that spot... Got the dining room kinda reclaimed, and made lentil soup in the small slow cooker. I actually thawed some chili I'd made last week and had frozen half to have tonight for dinner, so I think I'll take the lentil soup for lunch tomorrow. I refilled my pepper mill, since I found my peppercorns. I have both black and white ones, and don't remember which I had in it before. I used the black, and I'm thinking I mixed them last time. Oh, well, just have to use up this refilling and do the mix next time.

I want to shower and choose my clothes for work tomorrow before going to bed tonight. I have been working my way through my dressier office clothes to see what fits and what needs attention or needs to be passed on. So far, everything has fit. I do better if I choose the outfits the night before rather than just reaching for my usual comfort outfits in the haze of early morning.

Got the camera charged up. I don't like the pictures I'm getting of the table. The flash makes it look strange. Without flash the pictures look fuzzy. So, I'll either use my iPhone camera or figure something else out.

Saturday, November 14, 2009

Last night the lure of the nap again preempted posting here. Coupled with the fact that there was not much to write about, it was an easy choice. And so, today again I start over. Or pick back up. Whatever it is that I keep doing when I don't seem to be able to keep my promises of improvement that I make to myself. Today was a day of pulling out gear, most of it while on the phone to Turtle Lady. I haven't found the hammock that I was looking for. The suspension I put on it 'temporarily' to test it is worth more than the hammock itself, and is why I'm looking for the hammock in the first place. I want to put the suspension back on the hammock it came off of. It's not in the Jeep, not in the backpacking gear. sigh. Found a few things I forgot I had, and started a (small) pile of equipment to donate to the silent auction next time I go to a hang-out.

Found my camera, but the battery is now dead. I think I know where the charger is for it. These things are never simple it seems. I tried using my new IPhone to take the picture. Got one, and the battery on it died, too. It is charged up now, so maybe tomorrow I'll go that route.

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Nothing much to write about tonight. On work nights I don't do a lot. I am trying to learn to do push-ups. I am at the point where I'm going backwards on my abilities. Tonight I can't even do one girly push-up. I collapsed while trying to push myself back up. I'll try to go slightly down and just hold that position for a few seconds. I just can't seem to go slow enough to actually build up and get stronger. Practice, practice. And that is pretty much what's going on here.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Here is a recipe site that gave me a recipe for instant Cream Of ... Soup: http://busycooks.about.com/od/homemademixes/r/creamsoupmix.htm

I'm thinking I'll leave out the instant bouillon and just use store bought broth to make it with. I checked out the muffin recipes there, but I'm thinking I can get simpler than they are. Their recipe uses 1/4 stick butter. And an egg. Doesn't seem very healthy. Does sound good. I'll keep looking.

V8 has 'healthy' soups now in milk carton type single serving sizes. A take off of the Pacific brand organic ones. The Yuppie/hippie ones taste better, but the butternut squash one from V8 was ok. I got it at the local WalMart, and they had the Yuppie brands, too. I don't remember the prices, but I'm thinking I didn't save any by getting the V8 one instead. I'll go for the Yuppie brands next time.

Reading the crafts blogs has me wanting to pick up my knitting and crocheting again. I have the afghan I'm working on, and I still haven't made any socks. I see that being my main evening entertainment in a few days. It would be cheaper than the Casino, anyway.

Nope, still no picture of the table. To tell the truth, I'm not real sure where my camera is...

I'm just gonna leave this window open and link to the neat stuff I'm finding this morning.

http://myhouseofblues.com/ This link is also from Lloyd Kahn. He posted it a few days ago and I finally had time to go there today. Just enjoyed Eric Clapton doing Cocaine and remembered why I like his music so much. Also listened to him and BB King doing Rock Me Baby. Great stuff. All music, not bling. Cool site that I'll go back to. It's all on YouTube video, but it's organized to find the blues.

One more from Lloyd: http://bit.ly/1hF5x2 It's a cliff house, modern style with lots-o-glass and wood. Kinda neat, but I have a few issues with it. Maybe. It does blend in with the landscape than most houses would, but I wonder things like where does their water come from, and where does waste water go...

http://www.missminimalist.com/ This woman hangs out at SimpleLiving.net on the discussion boards. She and her husband just got rid of (almost) everything and moved from the US to the UK and started over. This is the story of their journey to learn to live with Just Enough. She's a good writer, and has pictures. Interesting stuff if you are like me and (still!) trying to learn to let go of all this stuff. I understand some of her pain of having to go out and repurchase items that she had just spent energy getting rid of. I had to so some of that. A microwave and those plastic dressers I just bought are the main things. Oh, and the dining room table that I keep promising to take a picture of...

I'm going to post this now. I almost lost it among my open windows when I went on to a new blog here instead of the window I was using. If I find anything else neat I'll post it.

Ok, ran accross a neat story in a blog, Lloyd Kahn's blog at http://lloydkahn-ongoing.blogspot.com/ He posts small snippet of neat stuff as he find them, so I'm doing the same. This is a treehouse of sorts in Crossville, TN. http://www.flickr.com/photos/chucksutherland/3977773445/ is the link to the picture of the treehouse, and http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2007-07-29-treehouse-church_N.htm is a link to the story about the treeehouse. It is a 10 story treehouse, and isn't so much a treehouse as a house built using live trees to support it. I'd post the picture, but I need to brush up on how to do that, and I'm busy reading other folks' blogs right now. :)

I came home yesterday, changed clothes into sweats and decided on a 'quick' nap before starting anything else. I woke up after a deep sleep, and without glasses on thought the clock said 4am. Apparently it actually said 9pm. Anyway, I just finished getting undressed and went to bed thinking I'd missed the evening. So, that's why no update yesterday. That's my story...

I feel like I need to explain a link I disconnected recently. I have a friends list of blogs that I follow. I took one person off. I enjoyed reading her blog entries about her life. However, now her blog is only her 'tweets', which made no sense whatsoever when I'm so far away from her life. It's difficult to have any depth of thought conveyed in 140 characters. So, I dropped her blog from my friends list. If she goes back to actually writing I will add her back in happily. But, life moves on and I'm guessing this fits her current life better.

I have today off for Veteran's Day. I was thinking of driving over to the Olympics to the Hoh Rain Forest. I may instead do house things, and free up next weekend for that. Or, I may just be lazy all day and next weekend, too. That's the problem with no one out here to motivate me. Once I get going I'm glad I did. It's that whole get in the Jeep and go part that's difficult.

Monday, November 09, 2009

I got more done yesterday, so I'm feeling like I'm finally making some progress after the weeks of being sick. Laundry is finally caught up. The house if more or less straight. Tonight I'll start what I hope is a habit of taking my shower at night. I practiced my push-ups. Lori and Cindi gave me ideas on how to get strong enough to actually start doing push-ups. I'm working on it.

Not a lot to write about in the weekday evenings. I just don't do a lot here. But, I posted, so some promises to myself are being kept.

Sunday, November 08, 2009

Day 2. Yesterday I got several things accomplished. My bedroom looks less cluttered. I put stuff into containers, drawers, and back into the correct room depending on what it was that was out of place. The container thing is a middle ground. I find it easier to put like things together, then later go through and pare down those to just what I feel I need at the time. So, at least now there is less loose 'stuff' in there.

I have a couple of loads of laundry to do today. Still catching up on that. The dining room, small nook that it is, also got cleared out, but I haven't taken the pictures of the table yet. Maybe today.

I want to do some sit ups, and some 'girly' push-ups since I can't do even one regular one at this point. We women were asked (jokingly) by one of the test pilots (who is retired military) if we wanted to participate in a PT test the 3rd week of this month. We looked at him and even the two females who are younger than me and former military themselves mentioned they couldn't begin to pass a PT test. The pilot yelled back to the NCIOC "they're in". This particular pilot is renowned for being able to ace the PT tests with no prior notice and even though he is a 'old man' of 40. I'll be there to provide comic relief I guess.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

'Last updated 5 weeks ago'. Yeah. I've been in a bit of a depression, I guess. Lost interest in most things, sick for at least 2 weeks of it, which didn't help. Realized this morning that I let the first of November, which is National Novel Writing Month, slip past without even feeling like I should try to write. Then read a blog that I enjoy even though she updates no more often than I do. She has taken the challenge to blog every day in November. My book of quotes might say something like 'and on the 7th day she finally got her tail in gear while everyone else was resting...' No promises. But I will try to write every day. As I've suggested I would do at times in the past and failed to keep up with it. Of course, the 3 people who read this have probably given up on my at this point, which is ok. This blog is mostly for me, anyway.

It is raining. And, as it tends to do out here, the forecast is for rain out to the future. Last night I went and got some plastic drawer dresser things, like I have several of back in the storage unit in Nashville. I need to get my clothes out to see what I have and either wear it or get rid of it. Time to move on this. I want to look around and maybe move out of this trailer. It has been a nice temporary place. I'm not sure what I want, but I do know I need to get even lighter on my feet. I'm making progress on using up consumables around here. I had bars of soap enough for literally more than a year, maybe several years come to think of it, and I'm getting down to only a few. I have travel sizes of a lot of stuff, in several travel kits. I'm using it down. All of this takes room to store, and I'm getting that room back. I don't buy huges sizes of stuff now, just enough to get buy for a few weeks. Things like dishwashing detergent, toilet paper, groceries. As I use up what I have stockpiled, spaces are appearing in the cabinets. Not enough space yet, but it is starting to happen.

I went to the gym one night last week. I'll try for two nights this week. Progress, not perfection. I have lost enough weight (maybe 4 or 5 pounds...) that my clothes fit again. I'm trying to eat healthy, as I enjoy my morning oatmeal while writing this. I have a loose plan or goal for where I want to be by the end of the year. Nothing dramatic, so hopefully attainable.

If the day goes as I hope, I may post some pictures of my new kitchen table. We'll see. I do have 6 posts to make up to get on track.